Conference Presentations

Exploring the Roles of Botanic Gardens in Plant Conservation

John Arnott has been with the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne as Manager Horticulture since April 2008. Previously, John  worked in a number of significant public gardens.  For over 20 years, John worked at the Melbourne Zoo facilitating a number of roles both technical and managerial; during this time, the Melbourne Zoo was transformed to be one of the world’s leading exponents of zoological horticulture. 

John joined the team at the Geelong Botanic Gardens in 2000 and played a key role in the delivery of the 21st Century Garden project - the catalyst for the rejuvenation of the gardens.

Currently John leads the team of horticulturists at the Royal Botanic Garden Cranbourne at a challenging and exciting time in the history of the gardens.
Conference presentation

How are Urban Landscapes Important to People?

Dave Kendal has been a researcher at the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology, a division of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, since 2011. In February 2016, Dave started a new role at the Burnley campus of the University of Melbourne as part of the Clean Air and Urban Landscape hub of the National Environmental Science Program. He has developed an international research profile exploring how people interact with nature, and the ecology of cultivated landscapes.
Conference presentation

Something’s Happening! Citizen Science in the Brisbane Ranges 

Cathy Powers is a member of Friends of Brisbane Ranges and co-leader of its Citizen Science project; her flora photography is published widely.  An interest in Australian flora began with terrestrial orchids but flourished after moving to the eastern slopes of the Brisbane Ranges in 1994; Cathy has been President /Vice-President of the Australian Plants Society Victoria for six years. Now retired from nursing, Cathy pursues an understanding of what nature provides in such a unique place as the Brisbane Ranges.  “Understanding where I live, bordering the Brisbane Ranges National Park, gives me inside knowledge to share”.
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Geelong Regional Growth:- Threats to Flora and Ecosystem Sustainability

Graeme Stockton originally comes from the Grampians but now lives on a small, rural property at Bellbrae on the Surf Coast. He has a science degree in horticulture (1985) and then developed West Coast Indigenous Nursery specialising in local flora of the Bellarine and Torquay regions - servicing local land managers, businesses and community groups wanting to restore local habitat. Graeme is involved with Surfers Appreciating Natural Environment (SANE) and with Jan Juc Coast Action. Graeme worked in Guatemala (1996 – 1999) with communities living in the rainforest.  On return, he completed postgraduate study in International Development. In 2007 he founded the Surf Coast Energy Group (SCEG); 200 members focusing on climate change and sustainability issues.
Conference presentation

Connecting with Social Media

Professor Tim Entwisle is a scientist, scientific communicator and botanic gardens director. He took up the role of Director and Chief Executive of Royal Botanic Gardens in March 2013, following two years in a senior role at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and eight years as Executive Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust in Sydney. Tim writes for a variety of science, nature and garden magazines and maintains an active social media profile (including his popular ‘Talkingplants’ blog). He is a regular contributor to ABC Radio National, hosting the show Talking Plants over Summer.
Conference presentation

The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria recently (April 2016) released a document outlining how they will respond at Melbourne Gardens to the predicted changes in climate through to 2090. It is a twenty-year plan, guiding planting, water management and education.
Read more about the Landscape Succession Strategy

Bat Watch (or Grey Headed Flying Fox Camp)

Grant Baverstock, Manager of Parks and Gardens with the City of Greater Geelong, has keenly studied Australian fauna for the past 40 years with a particular interest in Bats. This interest has resulted in Grant travelling across much of Australia observing fauna and assisting in field surveys, and Grant has authored the results through papers in various scientific journals.  Grant has monitored the colony of Flying Foxes in Eastern Park since their arrival in 2003.

 

 

Community and Environment Shaping a Botanic Garden

Jenny Houlihan lives in Shepparton with husband Leo and is a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Jenny taught in local schools for twenty years and operated a retail business in the CBD for twenty six years. Since 2005, has served as a councillor on Greater Shepparton City Council, including four terms as Mayor. Was elected with strong community support to establish botanic gardens in Shepparton and has made that a major goal. Believes strongly in the value of community engagement and partnerships to establish and strengthen lasting relationships and genuine commitment to a project. When not spending time on the development of the Australian Botanic Gardens Shepparton and other Council work, Jenny enjoys walking, dining out, gardening , reading and watching her grandchildren play sport.

Urban Tree Management Strategies for Climate Change

Greg Moore, Senior Research Associate of Burnley College, University of Melbourne was Principal of Burnley from 1988 to 2007, and Head of the School of Resource Management at the University from 2002 to 2007.

With a general interest in horticultural plant science, revegetation and ecology, Greg is particularly interested in arboriculture. He was inaugural president of the International Society of Arboriculture, Australian Chapter, and has been a member of the National Trust’s Register of Significant Trees since 1988 and chair since 1996. He has served the Board of Greening Australia (Victoria) 1988-2012 and chaired Treenet since 2005. He is on the board of Sustainable Gardening Australia and is a trustee of Trust for Nature. He has written two books, contributed to three others and has published over 120 scientific papers and articles.
Conference presentation

Threatened Flora of Victoria

Neville Walsh, Senior Conservation Botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, started working at the National Herbarium of Victoria in 1977, initially as a survey botanist, then taxonomist. Work involves the survey and development of recovery strategies for threatened Victorian plants as well as taxonomic research. With Tim Entwisle, he edited the 4-volume Flora of Victoria and, with other RBGV botanists, is working to make it available on-line.

He is a member of the Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery Team, and working groups devoted to the recovery of several threatened plant species.

Neville manages the Victorian Conservation Seedbank (commenced in 2001), focussing on Victoria’s threatened species. The bank includes around 1100 species; some of the seed is being used for re-establishment projects. He specialises in the taxonomy and ecology of alpine species.
Conference presentation

Securing Geelong Botanic Gardens’ Future

Annette Zealley is the Director at the Geelong Botanic Gardens, leading a team of passionate horticulturalists and volunteers.  This diverse role includes development of the gardens plant collections, public garden management and community engagement.  Annette facilitates the Geelong Botanic Gardens and Eastern Park Master Plan strategic initiatives to improve the quality of the landscape and recreational facilities.  

Annette is an active member of Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ) professional network.  She supports regional Botanic Gardens staff and volunteers through advocacy, knowledge sharing, supporting professional development and facilitating strategic projects and conferences. 

Previously Annette managed the Dandenong Ranges Gardens.  She has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Horticulture) from the University of Melbourne (Burnley).
Conference presentation

TREES Capturing the Essence of Geelong Botanic Gardens: Artists' Views 

Launch of Botanic Art Book with Dolores Skowronski-Malloni

Understanding Finance from a Board Perspective

Steven Wight was a member of the Sunday Forum Governance, Compliance and Existence.  Stephen is a chartered accountant and the current managing director of Davidsons, an accounting firm with offices in Geelong, South Melbourne and Torquay. Stephen has served as a board member with Barwon Health, is a board member of a local community bank and is a member of a number of audit and risk committees. Stephen is a registerd company auditor, a self-managed superannuation fund auditor and a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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June 22 2016